Rhaen Vauxhall [5]

Even though I couldn't hear what he said over the noise, I could tell, just from the shape of his lips and from the way his mouth curved, he said…

'Rhaen Vauxhall?'

…my name.

Truth is, not even Mr. Junon knew my last name because only the person themself can see the blue, translucent interface hovering just above their wrist. The same was true for everyone.

The only reason he knew to call me 'Rhaen' was because of the old name tag I was found with, worn like a pendant on a string around my neck when I was an infant inside the clocktower.

Thus.

How does the masked bastard know my full name?

A possibility was that he could see others' interfaces, but that doesn't explain why he took Mr. Junon's life when he was the kindest man I have ever met. I'm sure he never wronged anyone. 

But in the end, whatever the reason is, none of it matters as I'd still kill him even if it means accepting a deal with the girl who claimed herself as a Grim Reaper.

"Necraia…"

I called her name, forcing the word past my throat as I hung mid-air, my feet no longer able to touch the wooden platform beneath me.

Dong!

In the distance, the bell above the clocktower rang out and both of the guards beside me froze mid-pull, along with the crowd whose mouths remained frozen mid-chant— including the masked bastard.

Though… except me, still able to move my gaze around and look at the frozen environment, where even a crow above paused mid-flap of its wings.

And Necraia.

She appeared in the middle of the stillness, floating upside down on her scythe. Her legs were crossed and her arms were folded behind her head like she had been watching the whole time and finally got bored. 

— "Misterrrr!! You called~?"

Looking intently at her pink eyes that were a little softer than mine, I didn't know if she really was the Grim Reaper or just some gifted freak who liked dressing up as death and playing games with dying people, but I was too far gone to care anymore.

"The deal," I said, firmly. "I'll take it."

— "Oh ho~! Even though you don't know what it'll cost you?"

She giggled one more time before swinging the scythe and sat atop, no longer upside down.

— "Well, you're already dying, so I suppose you're not really in a place to bargain, are you?"

Glancing around at the frozen crowd mid-chanting of my death, then to the copper digging into my neck, her eyes twinkled as she turned back to look at me.

— "Alright then, Mister~" she whispered. "A deal is a deal. You lose a portion of your lifespan depending on the power you borrow. Humans live, what? A hundred years? Losing thirty, fifty… it's not a big deal, right?"

She pulled a simple, black ring from the air between her fingers. 

— "Now, normally I'd ask you to take this. But clearly, you're a little… tied up."

Floating closer, she jumped off the scythe and landed on the planked platform. She then gently slid the ring onto my pinky finger like she was tucking a secret into my skin and leaned down before pressing a soft kiss on the ring.

— "There we go~! So… tell me how long do you want to do this?"

"How long?"

— "Exactly! I'm a generous~ Grim Reaper, 'y'know? I don't want you to spend your whole life climbing the—"

"One year."

I cut her off, gritting my teeth and clenching my fists. I had no idea what kind of 'borrowed power' she mentioned I would have, nor what awaits me above. 

But.

To kill that bastard— no, wait! The bastard was no longer there, despite the rest of the crowd being still frozen. 

"Where is—?"

— "One year…?" Necraia cut me off, frowning. "You want to be in the deal for only a year? Did you even listen to what I just said? I don't want you to—"

"No."

I looked straight at her eyes, realizing there was no point thinking about that bastard with my current situation, unable to move. Hence, at the moment, I only focused on what I could control.

"Take everything. I only need a year."

— "Ahahahaha~!!"

Necraia laughed.

A full-bodied, wild laugh that made her shoulders shake as she clutched her stomach like I had just told the best joke she had heard in centuries.

— "Ohhh, Mister~" she mumbled, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "You… really are something else."

Necraia swung her scythe in one smooth arc, slicing through the air, stopping just as it brushed against the skin of my neck, barely kissing it but enough to let one single drop of blood slip free. 

I felt the sting as that lone drop floated upward, suspended in the air like, trembling as it hovered toward her fingers.

— "Ehe~!"

Necraia's tongue flicked out and tasted the blood like a connoisseur sampling fine wine.

— "Deal sealed~!"

Her eyes fluttered shut in delight, head tilting up slightly like she was savoring the aftertaste, before turning slowly toward the direction I had been staring earlier… the spot where that half-faced mask bastard had vanished.

— "Oh ho~ Would you look at that… A little rat slipped through the cracks, scurried off while no one was looking—tch, clever little thing…"

She spun her scythe in one hand like it weighed nothing and then looked back down at me with a wink.

— "Well then, Mr. Take Everything… I only need a year. So, uh… hang tight!"

"Huh?! Wait, no! At least release—"

Just as she appeared, she suddenly vanished into the air, leaving me still hanging on this execution platform then as if nothing had happened at all, the world snapped back into motion

Both of the guards let go of the rope, the copper-made collar would remain above and the gravity would pull my body down, and the noise of the crowd returned in full, their chants echoing like a drumbeat in my ears.

"Hang the rat!"

"Hang the rat!"

"Filth like him don't get a last breath!"

As soon as the ropes slipped from their hands, the collar pulled tight around my neck, jerking my body up so fast I couldn't even think.

"Urghhh-khh…"

The breath was knocked out of me. The copper bit into my throat, harder and harder, as I tried to gasp, but no air came. My chest was on fire, and my head felt like it might burst.

The crowd was still shouting, but their voices started to fade, like I was slipping underwater as everything around me blurred. My eyes watered, my feet kicking below instinctively, trying to reach the platform, and my hands twitched at my sides.

I couldn't do anything.

All I could do was hang there as the pain in my neck got worse, as the fire in my lungs grew hotter, and the world around me slowly turned dark.

Until.

A bright light engulfed the vision from my eyes, before turning black and everything went dark.

- – — N O N E — – -

"Where am I…?"

I found myself in the middle of darkness, though a single door was illuminated ahead despite the lack of presence of light, for some reason, I also found my hands reaching towards the doorknob. 

Trying to stop myself, I was unable to control my own body. My hands moved on their own, and the more I reached, the less I felt like myself.

Then.

A hand slipped out from the door's surface and gently wrapped around mine. The sensation was cold but not frightening, as if it had been waiting there just for me. It slowly guided my fingers tighter around the doorknob like telling me that this was the only way forward and all I had to do now was turn it open.

"You're None, aren't you? Isn't that what they call you?"

"Didn't the Tower turn its back on you?"

"Open the door. Take what's yours."

"You were born with nothing, so why not take everything now?"

The whispers of the mouth appearing on the door's surface came like a lullaby to my ears, tempting me to open the door gently and sweetly… and what scared me most was how much I wanted to say yes.

My body couldn't resist.

My hands tightened their grip even more, as if letting out all the frustrations I had against the tower and prepared to turn the knob to open the door.

— "RHAEN VAUXHALL!"

A voice, sounded like it belonged to Necraia, echoed loudly inside my mind.

— "Ah-ah, don't even think about opening that door without asking me first!"

It was then that control suddenly returned to my body, and I quickly yanked my hand away from the doorknob, stumbling back a few steps only to watch the door fade into thin air, like it had never been there at all. 

And just as I caught my breath, the darkness around me peeled away, revealing a new place… and with it, a voice I didn't recognize.

< "Ahem! Sound test, sound test…" the voice said. "Everyone hears me, right? Wonderful! Let's begin, shall we?" >